More than words: How AI turns text into living systems
Jorge Luis Borges, in The Garden of Forking Paths, imagined a novel that defied the rules of storytelling—a book where every possible outcome coexisted, splintering endlessly into new narrative threads. No single path, no fixed plot, just an ever-expanding labyrinth of choices. Once a mind-bending literary concept, Borges’ vision now feels like a blueprint for the AI age. Today, text isn’t static ink on a page; it’s fluid, dynamic, and endlessly reconfigurable. Generative AI turns documents (dossiers) into living entities, morphing in real time to fit the user’s needs—an evolution that not only has implications for business documents, but also the business processes that surround these.
This shift in document management represents a fundamental change for business. Traditionally, businesses have relied on structured, fixed documents—contracts, reports, policies—that, once written, remained unchanged unless manually edited. Processes are built on the back of these documents and over time – as we digitized business operations into rigid systems these documents were reduced down to a small set of critical fields. A classic example is looking primarily at education and years of experience on resumes when making choices on who to interview for a job position.
Today, AI introduces a multidimensional approach to documentation, where content evolves dynamically, providing more relevant insights, reducing friction, and improving decision-making. For instance, rather than just looking at a candidate’s educational qualifications on a resume, what if you can delve deeper into areas like psychology to understand how good a fit a given employee might be. As Greger Ottosson, CEO of Cube5, explains,
“Now we have the capability of looking at the entire person when screening candidates, not just their education and experience, right? So, we can be more nuanced in our decision-making. The limits of traditional computing forced us to reduce every candidate or contract to a few structured data points. With AI, we don’t have to do that anymore.”
Why adaptive documentation matters in business
Imagine a world where this flexibility is extended into contracts, reports, and business intelligence – so these aren’t just static records but living, evolving entities that adjust to context. AI-powered document management makes this possible by transforming the way we create, read, and extract insights from documents.
Contract management is a good example. Traditionally, businesses have relied on static templates, each tailored to specific use cases but inherently limited in flexibility. Revising a contract meant manually sifting through versions, tweaking language to fit jurisdictional quirks, industry regulations, and negotiation terms—often resulting in bottlenecks, delays, and legal headaches. AI is changing that. Instead of selecting from a handful of pre-written templates, organizations can now generate contracts that adapt dynamically. Location-based compliance? Automatically adjusted. Risk clauses? Customized in real-time based on the negotiation history and corporate policies. Payment terms? Optimized for both parties based on financial risk models and past agreements.
This isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about redefining business agility. When documents become living entities, they move at the speed of decision-making, reducing friction in everything from deal negotiations to regulatory filings.
As another example, think of the humble Request for Proposal (RFP)—a seemingly straightforward document where a business outlines its needs, and suppliers respond with tailored pitches. Simple, right? Not always. As Greger explains, in the industrial world, RFPs can become overwhelmingly complex. In electronics manufacturing, a single device might require a buyer to communicate hundreds of pages of technical specification. On the flip side, the supplier responding to the buyer might juggle thousands of components, each with intricate datasheets, and only a subset that fits the specifications. Matching the right component and then meticulously filling out the RFP can take human teams months.
This is exactly where AI shines. Greger and the team at Cube5 are building an AI-powered tool that can digest supplier datasheets and other relevant information, and answer questions related to an RFP, providing sources where necessary. By streamlining this traditionally cumbersome process, AI doesn’t just save time—it makes businesses more agile, enabling buyers and suppliers to forge faster, more flexible partnerships. And when companies are not getting bogged down in paperwork, they can innovate faster.
In this AI-driven paradigm, information isn’t just stored—it’s activated. Documents are no longer passive repositories of text but intelligent, responsive frameworks that reshape themselves in real time. Borges may have imagined a fictional labyrinth of infinite narratives, but today’s generative AI is constructing something even more powerful: a world where text bends to the user’s needs, transforming rigid paperwork into an adaptive, frictionless force for business.
But the value of adaptive documentation extends beyond creation—it transforms how we find information and make decisions as well.
The AI librarian: Managing infinite realities
Today’s AI functions as a librarian capable of retrieving the exact version of information you need at any given moment. Instead of manually searching archives, flipping through endless documents, or cross-referencing reports, an AI-powered document management system can understand queries in natural language and return the most relevant, context-aware answers.
Consider a lawyer preparing for a new case. Instead of manually combing through past legal settlements, case law, and corporate policies, they can simply ask, “What were the terms of past settlements involving non-compete clauses in the software industry?” The AI librarian instantly synthesizes relevant information from thousands of pages, providing a summary tailored to the lawyer’s specific needs. Rather than being bound by the rigid structure of traditional database searches, the lawyer now operates within a dynamic system that adapts to their inquiry.
As Ottosson notes, “If you had 1,000 assistants screening documents in real-time, would you still limit yourself to rigid templates? Probably not. AI gives us that level of assistance—it’s like having unlimited interns at your disposal. And just like interns they can learn, and tomorrow you’ll see them as co-workers.”
Beyond documents: The non-linear workflow revolution
This kind of adaptability doesn’t just apply to documents—it fundamentally changes how businesses operate. Workflows that were once linear and manual can now be fluid, intuitive, and automated. AI-driven insights allow operations teams to make decisions based on real-time, ever-evolving information rather than static, outdated reports.
Let’s go back to our example of HR and recruiting. Traditionally, resumes are processed through rigid Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that reduce candidates to keyword-matched profiles. ATS systems strip candidates down to a few structured data points—years of experience, degrees held, previous job titles—without capturing the nuance of their true potential.
With AI, this process is revolutionized. Instead of forcing candidates to fit into predefined boxes, AI can analyze entire resumes holistically, identifying not just hard skills but soft skills, career trajectory, and even cultural fit within an organization. A company looking for a “problem-solving leader” can now surface candidates whose experience demonstrates those qualities, even if their job titles don’t explicitly state it. Rather than eliminating resumes that don’t match an arbitrary keyword list, businesses can now engage in deeper, more meaningful hiring decisions.
As Ottosson puts it, “We’ve been reducing people to 10 data fields when hiring, but AI enables us to consider the whole person, just as it allows us to process an entire document rather than forcing it into rigid formats.”
An example: Customizing business documents for different audiences
One-size-fits-all documentation is a missed opportunity. For instance, investors, customers, and internal teams all approach risk differently, and the way information is structured can make or break a decision. A venture capitalist scanning a pitch deck wants to see bold growth projections and high-reward potential, while a traditional bank investor prioritizes long-term stability. Similarly, product launch strategies need to be framed differently: risk-averse buyers respond to gradual rollouts and proven reliability, while early adopters crave disruptive innovation and first-mover advantages.
It’s no coincidence that “summarize this document” has been one of the early break-out use cases for Generative AI. This is just the early fumbling steps towards a world where hyper-personalization is baked into the tools, systems and processes we rely on for collaboration.
Corporate policies also demand tailored approaches. Legal teams expect comprehensive documentation with airtight compliance, but startup founders need digestible, high-level summaries that drive quick execution. By reshaping the structure, tone, and emphasis of key business documents to match the risk appetite of their audience, companies can enhance persuasion, minimize friction, and accelerate decision-making—all without compromising clarity or impact.
But risk appetite is just the beginning. Every audience—whether an investor, customer, or employee—comes with a unique mix of personality, priorities, and decision-making styles. Some people are driven by data, others by storytelling. Some need deep analysis, while others want the big picture in a few crisp bullet points. By recognizing these human nuances, businesses can move beyond generic communication and create truly personalized experiences. The future of business writing isn’t just about clarity—it’s about connection, delivering the right message in the right way to drive action, trust, and engagement.
Borges’ vision becomes reality
The age of generative AI brings Borges’ vision to life in ways he could never have imagined. Just as The Garden of Forking Paths explored infinite possibilities within a single novel, AI-driven document management allows businesses to engage with content in multiple dimensions at once. Documents are no longer static records that need to be either updated or interpreted for different purposes; they are intelligent, evolving systems that can be queried, adapted, and reshaped to fit the needs of their users in that particular context.
For business professionals working in areas like operations, this shift is more than just an efficiency gain—it’s a fundamental rethinking of how information flows through an organization. Whether it’s legal teams finding insights faster, HR departments hiring more effectively, or finance teams dynamically adjusting contracts, the ability to work with living documents changes everything.
“We’re just at the beginning,” Ottosson says. “Right now, businesses are improving their existing processes with AI. But soon, we’ll see AI-native companies completely reimagining their workflows. That’s where the real transformation lies.” (For more on this discussion, check out this Business Schooled podcast episode where Greger talks more about generative AI and document management).
In the past, business processes were like traditional novels—structured, linear, and constrained by the limitations of their format. This rigidity has an impact on how fast a business can adapt to change, and has a strong relationship with bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is the innovation killer—choking businesses with red tape, sluggish decision-making, and layers of administrative drag. As companies scale, these inefficiencies don’t just slow things down; they bloat costs, frustrate employees, and erode customer experience.
Enter generative AI: the ultimate bureaucracy disruptor. By automating document-heavy processes, streamlining approvals, and enabling real-time decision-making, AI cuts through the noise, replacing rigid hierarchies with fluid, responsive operations. AI redefines how businesses move, adapt, and grow, all while keeping compliance in check.We are stepping into a world of forking paths, where information is dynamic, adaptable, and infinitely more powerful. The question is no longer what document do I need? but rather what presentation of this document will help me make the best decision? The first businesses to figure this out stand to make the biggest gains in this emerging era.